I’m a US citizen who also has a NWOHR (National Without Household Registration) Taiwan Passport - a.k.a. it does not have a National ID number, and I do not have Taiwan hukou/shenfenzheng.
Curious to hear if anyone’s ever been able to use such a NWOHR Passport as a travel document. A bit of a long shot, but even more curious if anyone’s used one to travel to Iran.
I’m aware that many countries specifically require National ID, and frankly most of those countries I can access with a US passport just fine.
However, I’m an avid world traveler who wants to go to as many countries as possible - including places like Iran where US citizens either can’t go altogether or can’t go without the potential of getting flagged. I wonder if any of those countries, or any countries in general, just don’t care enough to check for National ID.
I’m surprised this post has so few replies. I’d be interested to hear about experiences too. Just got my NWOHR passport and looked up the list of few places that accept these passports (via the Taiwan passport wiki page). Can also use my US passport but would be interested in trying it out sometime!
wow that’s pretty crazy that there’s that many countries. what’s funny is that the nwohr passport doesn’t even let you go into taiwan (without the stamped entry permit).
I’ve used mine to travel to Iran actually, not a problem. The map up there is accurate; if they don’t require an ID number, they won’t look for it. Similarly I’ve used it in Turkey, Vietnam, Colombia, Peru, etc. all without any problem. In some of those cases, it’s better than using a US passport (i.e. free or cheaper visa).
I have in a few european countries with no problem. Germany, Italy, and Iceland. I was rejected in Spain and then just used my US passport. It wasn’t a big deal.
It would be if it was your only passport and that’s the problem. Still I’m rather surprised at the number of countries that did let you in. Did you need to apply for a visa for all those countries ? It’s unfortunate that wiki page is misleading above.
One of the issues for me holding the NWOHR was that they were forcing me to stay a whole year without exiting before getting Taiwan ID (after receiving the TARC) , or multiple years with short exits, along with renouncing my original citizenship . So it’s all very well being able to travel to some countries but if you can’t exit in the first place…
Depending on a NWOHR for business travel was simply not feasible for me.
They make the process of getting a Taiwan ID a real bitch to foreigners for no apparent reason. Perhaps cos we are foreigners and they should make it really hard for us is the logic.
Yes, sorry I didn’t read the whole thread. I wouldn’t travel with the Taiwan passport alone, I only used it as a backup. No I did not apply for any visa.
I guess once you get your taiwan citizenship you’ll have the real deal passport and won’t have to worry about it anymore.
It really is a shame that Taiwan puts us through this. It’s why I have decided at least for now not to pursue citizenship. My taiwanese mom is dead and I’m American born and there is very conflicting information it seems about whether I’d even qualify for TARC. To stay a whole year I’d have to quit my US job which isn’t going to happen so looks like i won’t attempt the one year stay until I retire haha.
They wrote me a snotty letter with a load of official wording saying I was not obeying their requirements blah blah and hence they stripped me of nationality. I then just went back to my JFRV ARC, nothing about returning passport. The whole process was terrible from acquiring the TARC and passport to it being cancelled, they are chaotic and there is no well thought out process, just a load of pointless hoops and obstacles to jump through (or not). I’m sure they cancelled the passport in the system though.
I haven’t had to visit NIA or MOI throughout the entire process and will only have to go to NIA to apply for the paper that says I haven’t left the country in 365 days so I can get my damn hukou.
HRO will even apply for the first real passport you get once you do the hukou thing.
